


Thermodynamic Equilibrium

by crazyqueerecrivain



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, But only in Lexa and Clarke's pasts, F/F, Fluff, Modern AU, SO MUCH FLUFF, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6595204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyqueerecrivain/pseuds/crazyqueerecrivain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke has cold hands. Lexa has hot hands. Finn is a jerk. What more is there to say?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Clarke hadn't wanted to come to this stupid office bonding party. "I'll stay right by you." Octavia had said; though Clarke hadn't seen her in over an hour. Apparently tall, dark, and handsome was a better option than blonde, angry, and waiting to leave. "I'll have your back Clarke." Raven had said, but Clarke had lost Raven minutes after they arrived.

Now Clarke sat petulantly, alone, in a corner. It was really quite pathetic, but Clarke would rather not think about how lame her social life was. She didn't have time to be social or date. She had worked her ass off during her undergrad years to get to UCSF for med school, but she also needed a job. Raven had gotten both Clarke and Octavia jobs at the start up she had been working for, but Clarke still struggled to keep up with everything. She just worked in the mail room, but she definitely didn't give the job her full effort.

"Hey Pretty Lady." Clarke heard, making her groan. She hadn't wanted to go to this thing mostly because of time, but also because there was a high probability of her running into her ex. "I didn't know you worked here. I thought you were into chemistry or some shit." Finn plopped himself down without invitation next to her.

"Biology." Clarke corrected. "It's just a job to make some extra cash. If you must know, I'm currently in med school." Clarke could hear the venom seeping into her voice. Finn had not been the most fun time of her life. Her freshman year of college she had let him distract her, allowing her GPA to slip from a 3.99 to a 3.94. She found out that he had a high school girlfriend that was attending a nearby school as well and it nearly broke her heart. Octavia helped her through it, and she got Raven out of it, but something in Clarke couldn't bring her to forgive Finn. Maybe it was because he was the first to hurt her, or maybe it was because he hurt Raven, someone who had been through so much shit and deserved absolutely none of it.

"Huh, you know a lot of us actually care about this job. Mommy and daddy don't provide for us after we leave the nest." Finn sneered. Clarke didn't need to look up to know what words would follow the pause. "Oh wait, you got Daddy arrested didn't you? Being faithful to your convict of a husband is kind of tricky."

Clarke wanted to lung at the smug ass hole in front of her, but instead tears started to brim in her eyes. It hadn't been Clarke's fault, but she hasn't stopped her dad. He blew the whistle on a flaw in governmental security, and now he resided in federal prison. "Babe?" A gentile but commanding voice called. "Babe are you okay?" Clarke made eye contact with the nearing brunette. The girls green gaze told Clarke everything: this girl was rescuing her.

"Fine." Clarke stuttered out. Finn turned to see the woman, and his eyes grew wide.

"Wait until she figured out your heart is just as cold as your hands." Finn hissed, before standing up and bowing his head to the woman. "Miss Woods." He muttered before walking away.

Clarke's face warmed; Finn wasn't wrong. She hadn't been the same since Finn left and her dad was locked up. She was cold. No one got close to her; Niylah was her last relationship and that was nothing more than friends with benefits for Clarke.

The woman reached out her hand, offering it to help Clarke up. Clarke fidgeted a little. Finn was right in a second respect as well; her hands were really cold. Even when she was young, no one liked to hold Clarke's hand. It just wasn't comfortable.

* * *

The moment Lexa saw the shaggy brown hair, she knew there was trouble. Finn Collins was an intern at her now successful start up, and had done nothing but cause a slew of paperwork to appear on Lexa's desk. She had warned him; one more slip up, one more complaint, and he was out. She was ready to scold him and tell him he was gone when she saw the girl sitting next to him. She definitely looked irritated, but not offended like the others. She wasn't scared of Finn Collins, just annoyed by him. When he said something, tears started to brim on her icy blue eyes and the girl looked like she was ready to kill.

"Babe?" Lexa wasn't sure why she was saying the words, but alas they continued to flow from her mouth. "Babe are you okay?" Lexa asked, meeting the girl's eyes. With that gesture, the girl seemed to understand Lexa's intention, despite the fact Lexa didn't understand it.

"Fine." The blonde stuttered, though her voice was rather strong. Finn seems to whisper something to the girl before standing up and bowing his head. It may have been sadistic of her, but Lexa reveled in the fact that she could make that shitty man melt under her gaze.

"Miss Woods." He muttered before turning to leave. Without thinking, Lexa offered her hand. It was only when the blonde hesitated that Lexa's mind spun into over drive. Lexa's hands were always hot, not warm, but hot. For some reason Lexa's core temperature ran a couple degrees hotter and her hands followed suit. In business transactions she always kept the introduction short. Dating-wise her first girlfriend, Costia, had always complained about holding hands with Lexa because it made her sweaty, and Lexa had been self conscious ever since. The few times she had been in relationships, she avoided hand to hand contact at all costs.

Eventually, the blonde took her hand and allowed Lexa to help her up from the sitting position. "Sorry about Mr. Collins." Lexa apologized, quickly pulling her hand from the blonde's.

"Who Finn? He's fine. We dated in college and he was just being his typical ass self." The blonde explained.

"We're you just sitting in the corner?" Lexa asked, finally catching up to the situation. "Were you not enjoying yourself?"

The blonde smiled for the first time and her eyes smiled with her. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly my idea to come to this thing, but I promised my friends, so I just found a corner where I could study." Lexa ran through her list of employees, trying to find someone in her brain that matched the blonde, but she could find no match.

"Where do you go to school?" Lexa asked softly as the two started to walk side by side.

"UCSF. I'm in med school." The blonde replied, causing Lexa further confusion. She was the head of a tech start up, she wouldn't have had a med student on staff, but this was a staff party.

"That's a good school." Lexa said dumbly, "so what brings you to a tech start up staff bonding party?"

"I work in the mail room." The blonde starts, which explains why Lexa didn't recognize her. Lately, her schedule had been insane, so as much as she would have liked knowing each of her employees, the priority dropped. "My friends asked me to come, but they ditched me."

Lexa smiled, suddenly realizing that sometime during their walk Clarke had grabbed her hand. "You don't like working here much do you?" Lexa asked gently, starting to realize her hand wasn't irregularly hot, a feeling that usually came from holding hands with someone.

"It helps pay the bills." The girl shrugs, then stops suddenly. "If you're not going to complain about my cold hands, I request introductions and I have to say think you for making Finn go away. I'm Clarke."

Lexa grinned. She hadn't even realized that Clarke's hands were cold. "I'm Lexa, and it's no problem really."

"Where did you leave her?" A worried shout echoed down the hallway. Lexa immediately identified as Octavia Blake, an intern who had quickly rocketed to Indra's right hand man.

"I didn't leave her, you did." A voice called back. Lexa assumed this voice belonged to Raven Reyes, their resident mechanic. Next to Lexa, Clarke groaned.

"You know them?" Lexa asked motioning to where the voices had originated.

"I would be the her." Clarke said as Raven and Octavia turned the corner.

"Octavia, I found Clarke." Raven grinned, earning her a smack from Octavia.

"Hey Clarke we were worried about you. It's nice to see you Miss Woods." Octavia said, her voice becoming more formal as she spoke to Lexa.

"Miss Woods?" Clarke asked, making Lexa bite her lip. She was sort of enjoying just being Lexa.

"Yeah you'd be holding hands with the boss lady." Raven smirked. By the look on Clarke's face, Lexa could tell Clarke was mortified. Lexa squeezed her hand lightly, and Clarke smiled. Lexa hoped she was reassured. Lexa still wasn't quite sure of Clarke's sexuality, last name, or opinion on anything when her friends whisked her away, but Lexa knew she'd certainly be stopping by the mail room more often.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so weak, so I decided to continue this. Hopefully it will only be a 3 or 4 chapter fic. Hope y'all enjoy.

Lexa had not found her way to the mail room Monday at lunch because she was looking for the pretty blonde (who in fact was bisexual). Lexa hadn't spent ten minutes idling by the nearby water cooler because Clarke had casually added 'see you around' before they left. Lexa was not disappointed when one of the political science interns, Wells (whom Lexa was not jealous of) told her Clarke called out sick.

The next day, Lexa didn't slip out after a meeting and lurk around the mailroom. She didn't scoff at every employee giving her a funny look nor did she pretend that she worked there so she could hear more about Clarke's life. She didn't learn that Clarke grew up outside of New York City and she definitely didn't learn that Clarke's dad was incarcerated. She didn't learn that her mom lived back east nor did she learn that Abby Griffin, Clarke's mom, was a former White House physician.

By the third day, the denial was starting to wear off. Anya's incessant teasing started to die down, and Lexa stopped arguing. She knew she was hung up on the blonde, but really wished she wasn't. Lexa had sacrificed a lot for this company and she didn't want some pretty face get in between her and her goals. She stopped trying to blend it as her clothing made her stick out like a sore thumb.

On the fourth day of Clarke calling out sick, Lexa finally broke down and decided to find someone who would know exactly what was going on. After walking around Indra's office without going in for eight minutes, Lexa decided to call maintenance. She hadn't been able to come up with a decent excuse, so she pulled the 'I am the boss here if I want Raven Reyes to come to my office goddamn it you will send her no questions asked' card.

"I'm here boss lady." Raven called, sauntering through the door on her own accord, despite the fact that Lexa did have an assistant. Before Lexa could open her mouth, Raven plopped down in a chair opposite of Lexa. "You're wondering about Clarke." Shock flooded over Lexa.

"How did you-"

"Know?" Raven finished her sentence, "I know people everywhere Lexa. Besides you two were totally into each other the other day." Raven paused for a breath, "As for your original question, Clarke's got some nasty flu; she'll be back soon."

Lexa nodded and thanked Raven quietly, before shooing the girl away.

"Titus?" Lexa called, knowing her assistant would hear her. Titus appeared, ducking his head in acknowledgment of the girl.

"Yes Heda?" Lexa grimaced. Titus had known her as a child and when Lexa was young, she said she would be the heda of her own company. When she started this project, Titus brought the word back.

"Can you get me the address for one of our employees: Clarke Griffin. She works in the mailroom." Lexa said, keeping her face straight despite the fact that her leg bounced nervously.

"Heda, I must advise you of your father's saying..." Titus said uneasily. Lexa held back a groan. Her father had always told her that love was weakness, and after her father had passed away, both she and Titus had internalized it.

Titus and Lexa's dad had been best friends all through high school, college, and beyond. Titus had been the best man at Lexa's parents' wedding. Lexa's dad had been on his way to pick up Lexa's mom amidst a big snow storm when he got into an accident. He loved Lexa's mom so much so he went to pick her up and it took his life. Six months later Lexa's mom crumpled under the thought that their love had killed her husband. Lexa had been alone and cold ever since.

"I'm just asking for her address Titus; I'm not asking for her hand in marriage. She's ill, and speaking of my parents, my mother always said that we must take care of anyone in need, no matter what it costs." Lexa could tell Titus was holding a response back, but voiced nothing. Eventually, Titus turned, only to return with Clarke's address in hand.

* * *

Clarke was mid sneezing fit when there was a light knock on the door. She knew it couldn't be Octavia not Raven as they both had keys. It couldn't be her mother as the knock was too late and it couldn't be Bellamy as he would have called before. All of her other friends knew enough not to visit her while she was sick.

Clarke was a terrible sick person and she had ever since she was little. Her father had always been the only one to tolerate her when she was sick. Clarke cuddled in hoards of blankets, demanded things like a child and slept quite a bit.

Wearily, Clarke found her way up, still wrapped in her Eeyore onesie and five blankets. She opened the door and almost shut it back in the girls face. "Lexa?" Clarke said sniffling, "what are you doing at my home?"

"I er, I noticed you weren't at work and," Lexa held up an opaque bowl, "chicken soup. I hope you don't mind." Lexa blushed a little, which made Clarke smile. The fierce woman really was a cute girl.

"That's perfect. You're welcome to stay; I'm no longer contagious, but I'm kind of a pain in the ass when I'm sick." Clarke smiled, motioning for Lexa to come in if she pleased. Lexa found her way into Clarke's small home and placed the container on the nearby table. "If anything Is in your way just kick it away." Clarke smiled, settling back into the couch. "Lexa?" Clarke croaked gently.

"Yeah?" Lexa smiled, approaching the couch.

"Is there anyway you can grab the remote." Clarke motioned to the black rectangle just out of Clarke's reach. Lexa smiled, grabbing the remote before sitting down next to Clarke.

"Here," she handed the remote to the blonde who was fully encased in a cocoon. "Do you mind?" Lexa asked hesitantly, lifting up a blanket to motion to Clarke her intent.

"Go ahead. You might get hot though." Clarke warned, but Lexa had already slipped under the blankets. Her hands quickly found Clarke's and a smile spread across her face.

"That's one of the perks of always being hot. I don't get hotter." Lexa grinned, snuggling herself closer to Clarke. She seemed to be nervous, but Clarke just hummed with satisfaction. Clarke really liked having people close all the time, but especially when she wasn't feeling well. The contact made her feel better, but she kind of just accepted that people wouldn't oblige. Clarke lazily scrolled through her Netflix feed, before settling on Orphan Black.

"Part of clone club huh?" Lexa asked as Clarke resituated herself so her head rested on Lexa's chest.

"Mmhm." Clarke mumbled sleepily, placing her free hand on Lexa's thigh.

"Who's your favorite?" Lexa smiled, her eyes tracing Clarke's body. Clarke mumbled something incomprehensible, making Lexa smile. Lexa started to trace Clarke's back up and down with her pointer finger. Not that Lexa could tell, but Clarke fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

"Clarke are you _sure_ you don't want to come with us?" Octavia asked wearily, "we don't have to go all the way to the labyrinth if you don't want." Clarke rolled her eyes, she wasn't not going on the hike because she didn't want to walk. Okay that was part of it, but Lincoln was also going on the walk and Clarke didn't really want to be a third wheel on Octavia's date with her new boy toy.

"I'm positive O, go ahead. I'm just gonna chill in the trunk; I have a paper to work on." Clarke smiled, grabbing her laptop from beside her and grinned excessively.

"Fine." Octavia sighed in defeat, "but stay hydrated okay?" Clarke lifted her blue water bottle and shook it as Octavia finally ran over to join Lincoln on the way to the trail. There was yet another reason that Clarke didn't want to go on the duo's not date: they were running the trail. 

Looking out at the ocean, Clarke sighed. She really didn't want to work on this paper and it wasn't due for another week. Wearily, Clarke slid her laptop back into its sleeve and grabbed her sketch pad and colored pencils. She had just started to get into her sketch when she heard her name. "Clarke?" She recognized the voice immediately.

Clarke's relationship with Lexa Woods was confusing to say the least. They had held each other's hands until Octavia and Raven swooped Clarke away. Clarke had smiled and told Lexa she'd see her around, and Raven had grinned and shouted that Clarke was her special bi friend as they exited. Octavia was a good enough friend to keep quiet.

Then Lexa had come to visit Clarke when she was sick. That memory was a little foggy for Clarke, but it had seemed good. When Clarke woke up; though, Lexa was gone. Clarke had later found a sticky note on her fridge.

_Clarke,_

_I had to go to work, but I didn't want to wake you. I hope you feel better._

_xoxo_

_Lexa._  

Clarke hadn't seen Lexa since, though Octavia insisted Lexa had been crazy busy.

"Hey Lexa." Clarke smiled, setting down her sketch pad. The brunette approached, another woman by her side. Clarke hated to admit it, but jealousy bubbled in the pit of her stomach. The woman was no Lexa, but Clarke could see how she was attractive.

"So this is the Clarke I've heard some much about." The woman said, prompting Lexa to elbow her in the ribs. "Rude; I'm going to go down to the beach without you." Lexa just rolled her eyes.

"That would be my older sister; you can just ignore all she has to say; I do." Clarke chuckled; she didn't have any siblings, so it was always entertaining to watch siblings interact. "So uh, do you usually hike up here I mean I know you said you go to school up here, but I wasn't sure if you actually got up here and Lexa stop talking." Lexa babbled. Clarke's grin just grew.

"I've never actually hiked it, nor do I come up here often, but Octavia dragged me up here. I didn't want to third wheel with her and her date." Clarke shrugged, picking up her dark blue colored pencil.

"Would you mind hiking with me?" Lexa asked, biting her lip nervously.

Clarke thought this proposition over. She didn't really want to hike, but she would kind of like to spend time with Lexa. "I would, but O will probably be back before and I don't want her to worry." It was kind of a lame excuse, but Clarke went with it.

Lexa grinned and pulled out a pad sticky notes. Clarke chucked, "You just carry those around with you?" Lexa laughed, nodding.

_I stole Clarke. If you don't want to wait up grab Anya from the beach. See you at work._

_Lexa._

"And what's wrong with that?" Lexa asked sticking the sticky note to the inside of the trunk window. "C'mon." Lexa motioned for Clarke to exit the trunk, and with a groan, Clarke did.

* * *

 

The girls walked in silence most of the way, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Right before the labyrinth, Clarke started to show signs of being slightly winded. Lexa chuckled, “It’s not funny.” Clarke huffed with the smallest hint of a smile.

“It’s a little funny Clarke. Are you not used to hiking?” Lexa mused, pausing and leaning up ahead a wall. Clarke stopped along with Lexa.

“I don’t really exercise outside of walking the SF hills. I mean don’t get me wrong the view is great, but I would never do this by choice.” Clarke’s breath began to even out, but she still appeared exhausted.

“If you think this view is good,” Lexa grinned, making Clarke groan a little. “Clarke I’m serious, just a little further and it’s great.” Lexa’s smile grew at the blonde’s second groan; she could tell Clarke would concede. 

Clarke grumbled, but the look on her face became lighter. “Lexa Woods, I swear to God, if this is not the best view I’ve ever seen I’m going to kill you.” Lexa laughed lightly.

“Now that wouldn’t be very nice would it?” Lexa smiled, resuming her walk.

“No! Not yet Lexa!” Clarke whined, smiling. Lexa’s heart fluttered unnaturally. It wasn’t really fair how cute Clarke’s smile-pout was.

“C’mon.” Lexa drawled, grabbing both of Clarke’s hands and dragging her away from the rock where they rested. She meant to let go of both hands, but somehow, she ended up walking hand-in-hand with the shorter girl.

“No, Lexa, you are insane if you think I’m going to climb this thing.” Clarke said the moment they passed the labyrinth and Lexa motioned to the boulder.

“Then I guess I’m insane.” Lexa grinned starting to climb the path up to one of the high points. “C’mon Clarke.” Lexa teased once she’d reached the top. Clarke groaned, her head falling downward. With what appeared to be regret, she started to climb, tripping more than a few times.

“Holy hell.” Clarke gasped, her eyes skimming over every part of the bay. Slowly, Clarke sat down, her blue gaze not leaving the crystal waters and seemingly small Golden Gate Bridge. 

“Told you, best view in the city.” Lexa said softly, watching the small smile on Clarke’s face starting to get larger. Clarke didn’t even register where exactly Lexa’s eyes were focused. Gently, as to not disturb Clarke’s trance, Lexa took the other girl’s hand. Finally, Clarke’s eyes shifted back to Lexa’s.

“You weren’t looking at me when you said that were you?” Clarke asked, a heavy blush coming over her cheeks.

“Maybe.” Lexa grinned with a sudden burst of confidence. Clarke rolled her eyes and gave Lexa a light shove. 

“Dork.” Clarke laughed, the blush still evident on her face. Lexa figured if she could continue to make Clarke smile and blush, she’d be doing okay.

“Ready to go down?” Lexa asked with a grin. (Okay maybe it was a smirk, but Clarke was cute when she was frustrated.)

“Fuck you.” Clarke laughed a groan before standing up. Lexa just smiled, taking Clarke’s hand once again before starting the hike back to the parking lot; though she didn’t really want this date (was it a date? Lexa wasn’t really sure but she kind of wished it was) to end.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on tumblr (crazyqueerfrenchfry)


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